Population-based structure modeling reveals key roles of nuclear microenvironment in gene functions

Abstract

The nuclear folding of chromosomes relative to nuclear bodies is an integral part of gene function. Here, we demonstrate that population-based modeling--from ensemble Hi-C data--can provide a detailed description of the nuclear microenvironment of genes and its role on gene function. We define the microenvironment by the subnuclear positions of genomic regions with respect to nuclear bodies, local chromatin compaction, and preferences in chromatin compartmentalization. These structural descriptors are determined in single cell models on a genome-wide scale, thereby revealing the structural variability between cells. We demonstrate that the structural microenvironment of a genomic region is linked to its functional potential in gene transcription, replication and chromatin compartmentalization. Some chromatin regions are distinguished by their strong preferences to a single microenvironment, due to associations to specific nuclear bodies in most cells. Other chromatin shows high structural variability, which is a strong indicator of functional heterogeneity. Moreover, we identify specialized nuclear microenvironments, which distinguish chromatin in different functional states and reveal a key role of nuclear speckles in chromosome organization. We demonstrate that our method produces highly predictive 3-dimensional genome structures, which accurately reproduce data from TSA-seq, DamID, GPSeq and super-resolution imaging. Thus, our method considerably expands the range of Hi-C data analysis and is widely applicable.